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Signs of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 46.

Love Among Brethren

Signs of the Times

Dec 2, 1886

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 2, 1886

Love Among Brethren.

By Mrs. E. G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
TEXT:—"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Phil. 4:8.
THE dealings of God with his people often appear mysterious. His ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts our thoughts. Many times his way of dealing is so contrary to our plans and expectations that we are amazed and confounded. We do not understand our perverse natures; and often when we are gratifying self, following our own inclinations, we flatter ourselves that we are carrying out the mind of God. And so we need to search the Scriptures, and be much in prayer, that, according to his promise, the Lord may give us wisdom.
Our work is aggressive. We are to be awake and discerning as to the devices of Satan, and to press the triumphs of the cross of Christ. While Satan is planting his dark banner among us, perhaps even in our families, we should not be indifferent and inactive. But though we have an individual work and an individual responsibility before God, we are not to follow our own independent judgment, regardless of the opinions and feelings of our brethren; for this course would lead to disorder in the church. It is the duty of ministers to respect the judgment of their brethren; but their relations to one another, as well as the doctrines they teach, should be brought to the test of the law and the testimony; then, if hearts are teachable, there will be no divisions among us. Some are inclined to be disorderly, and are drifting away from the great landmarks of the faith; but God is moving upon his ministers to be one in doctrine and in spirit.
Brethren sometimes associate together for years, and they think they can trust those they know so well just as they would trust members of their own family. There is a freedom and confidence in this association which could not exist between those not of the same faith. This is very pleasant while mutual faith and brotherly love last; but let the "accuser of the brethren" gain admittance to the heart of one of these men, controlling the mind and the imagination, and jealousies are created, suspicion and envy are harbored; and he who supposed himself secure in the love and friendship of his brother, finds himself mistrusted and his motives misjudged. The false brother forgets his own human frailties, forgets his obligation to think and speak no evil lest he dishonor God and wound Christ in the person of his saints, and every defect that can be thought of or imagined is commented upon unmercifully, and the character of a brother is represented as dark and questionable.
There is a betrayal of sacred trust. The things spoken in brotherly confidence are repeated and misrepresented; and every word, every action, however innocent and well-meaning, is scrutinized by the cold, jealous criticism of those who were thought too noble, too honorable, to take the least advantage of friendly association or brotherly trust. Hearts are closed to mercy, judgment, and the love of God; and the cold, sneering, contemptuous spirit which Satan manifests toward his victim is revealed.
The Saviour of the world was treated thus, and we are exposed to the influence of the same malicious spirit. The time has come when it is not safe to put confidence in a friend or a brother.
As in the days of Christ spies were on his track, so they are on ours now. If Satan can employ professed believers to act as accusers of the brethren, he is greatly pleased; for those who do this are just as truly serving him as was Judas when he betrayed Christ, although they may be doing it ignorantly. Satan is no less active now than in Christ's day, and those who lend themselves to do his work will represent his spirit.
Floating rumors are frequently the destroyers of unity among brethren. There are some who watch with open mind and ears to catch flying scandal. They gather up little incidents which may be trifling in themselves, but which are repeated and exaggerated until a man is made an offender for a word. Their motto seems to be, "Report, and we will report it." These tale-bearers are doing the devil's work with surprising fidelity, little knowing how offensive their course is to God. If they would spend half the energy and zeal that is given to this unholy work in examining their own hearts, they would find so much to do to cleanse their souls from impurity that they would have no time or disposition to criticise their brethren, and they would not fall under the power of the temptation. The door of the mind should be closed against "they say" or "I have heard." Why should we not, instead of allowing jealousy or evil-surmising to come into our hearts, go to our brethren, and, after frankly but kindly setting before them the things we have heard detrimental to their character and influence, pray with and for them? While we cannot love and fellowship those who are the bitter enemies of Christ, we should cultivate that spirit of meekness and love that characterized our Master,—a love that thinketh no evil and is not easily provoked.
This is a matter that rests between God and our own souls. We are living amid the perils of the last days, and we should guard every avenue by which Satan can approach us with his temptations. A fatal delusion seizes those who have had great light and precious opportunities, but who have not walked in the light nor improved the opportunities God has given them. Darkness comes upon them; they fail to make Christ their strength, and fall an easy prey to the snares of the deceiver. A mere assent to the truth will never save a soul from death. We must be sanctified through the truth; every defect of character must be overcome, or it will overcome us, and become a controlling power for evil. Commence without a moment's delay to root out every pernicious weed from the garden of the heart; and, through the grace of Christ, allow no plants to flourish there but such as will bear fruit unto eternal life.
Cultivate whatever in your character is in harmony with the character of Christ. Cherish those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report; but put away whatever is unlike our Redeemer. Selfishness is cherished to an extent that few realize; guard against it at all times and in all places. Do not excuse yourself in any error. If you have one objectionable trait which you find it difficult to subdue, do not talk of your weakness that others must bear with. Do not soothe your conscience with the thought that you cannot overcome the peculiarities that deform your character, nor listen to Satan's suggestion that they are not very grievous. There is no way by which you can be saved in sin. Every soul that gains eternal life must be like Christ, "holy, blameless, undefiled, separate from sinners." The followers of Christ must shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
Some seek to control their surroundings, thinking that if they are placed in favorable positions, the bad traits in their character will not be developed. But God orders our surroundings, and he will place us where we shall have test after test, to prove us and to reveal what is in our hearts. Again and again we shall be brought into strait places, that it may be known whether we are indeed crucified with Christ or full of self-love. How will this proving, testing process end with each of us? The prince of darkness will put forth all his power to retain us in his possession; but we have a mighty helper.
Self-love will prompt to a much better opinion of self than the word of God will warrant,for "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" God's word is the standard that we must all reach. It is unsafe to consult feeling or trust to our own heart; for the wise man declares, "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool." And yet how prone we are to trust this deceptive heart, and have confidence in our own goodness!
Church-membership will not guarantee us Heaven. We must abide in Christ, and his love must abide in us. We must every day make advancement in the formation of symmetrical character. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." As God is perfect in his sphere, so are we required to be perfect in ours. There is a great work before us individually to reach this high standard, and some have scarcely learned their a b c's in the school of Christ. Our attainments will be just in accordance with the efforts we make, our character just what we choose to make it; for through the divine aid promised us, we can overcome. Jesus knows our frame; "he remembereth that we are dust." In pitying tenderness, he will give us the help and strength we need.
Our souls have been purchased at an infinite cost, and we should value them according to this standard. Let us shun the first approach to the world's heedless, irreverent, and ungodly ways; but let us diligently cultivate the pure principles of the gospel of Christ,—the religion, not of self-esteem, but of love, meekness, and lowliness of heart. Then we shall love our brethren, and esteem them better than ourselves. Our minds will not dwell on the dark side of their character; we shall not feast on scandal and flying reports. But "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise," we shall "think on these things."

Christ’s Coming and Reward

"Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.

HE KNOWS.

By Mary G. Brainard

I KNOW not what will befall me! God hangs a mist o'er my eyes; And o'er each step of my onward path He makes new scenes to rise, And every joy he sends to me Comes as a sweet and glad surprise.
I see not a step before me, As I tread the days of the year, But the past is still in God's keeping, The future his mercy shall clear, And what looks dark in the distance, May brighten as I draw near.
For perhaps the dreaded future Has less bitter than I think; The Lord may sweeten the water Before I stoop to drink; Or, if Marah must be Marah, He will stand beside its brink.
It may be there is waiting, For the coming of my feet, Some gift of such rare blessedness, Some joy so strangely sweet, That my lips can only tremble With the thanks I cannot speak.
My heart shrinks back from trials Which the future may disclose, Yet I never had a sorrow But what the dear Lord chose; So I send back the coming tears, With the whispered word "He knows." —Mary G. Brainard.

THE GREAT ERA OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

By Rev. J. A. Wylie, LL.D., of Edinburgh

The Papacy: Its Position, Policy, and Prospects.—No. 1.

THESE five centuries past, the outer and inner Papacies have been running two entirely different and opposite courses. Looked at on its political side, the Papacy is seen to be undergoing a process of decay; its political props have been mouldering into dust. Looked at on its religious side, it is seen, century by century, waxing in stature and consolidating in power.
The Papacy these centuries past has been perfecting the chain of its dogmas, laying deeper and broader the foundations of its authority, and riveting its hold upon the human conscience; in short, its career has been not unlike that of man itself, when his body decays by lapse of years, while yet his mind grows in moral and intellectual strength. The body of the Papacy has been returning to the dust out of which it was taken, but its soul, loosened from the political fetters that cramped it, and relieved from the earthly burdens that weighed it down, has been shooting higher and higher into the heavens, as if to persuade men that it is instinct with an immortal life, and endowed with a god-like strength.
The Papacy attained its political noon in the days of Innocent III., in the thirteenth century. It continued to flourish in power unimpaired, and splendor undimmed, for a century longer. In the days of John Wickliffe—whose colossal figure stands at the parting of the ages, marking the point where the modern times begin to dawn—the first great blow was dealt the political power of Rome. Then it was that the famous schism fell out. There were not one but three Popes, each claiming to be the true successor of Peter, and the real vicegerent of God, and each anathematizing the other as an undoubted impostor and a veritable Lucifer. This flagrant scandal entailed great loss of prestige on the Papacy, which it never after fully recovered. The princes of Europe were now better able to make their own terms with the Tiara, and this contributed to the emancipation of the temporal from the spiritual power.
The next stroke that befell the Papacy was the Pragmatic Sanction, in France. This arrangement guaranteed the French church in a considerable amount of independence of the Papal See, and to the same extent abridged the Pope's power in that influential kingdom.
There followed the Statutes of Provisors, of Premunire, and of Mortmain, in England. These enactments inflicted great financial as well as great political damage on the Papacy; inasmuch as in few countries of Europe had the Pope been able to reap, from year to year, so rich a revenue, or to exercise so large a measure of power, as in England. There came next

THE GREAT ERA OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

The numerous and sore disasters which the Reformation brought with it to the Papacy I need not dwell upon. One-half the kingdoms of Europe revolted from under its scepter. It was laboring to repair these immense losses, and had already recovered Bavaria, Bohemia, Hungary, and Belgium, when suddenly its sky was overcast by the darkness of the French Revolution. On the wings of that tempest came new and strange calamities to the church of Rome. Her priests were massacred; her revenues confiscated; her dignities cast down; the very chair of her Popes was for a time suppressed—a cup all the more bitter that Papal hands held it to her lips and compelled her to drink it.
The hurricane passed and there came a pause; the wonderful recuperative energies of Rome were put forth in effacing the ravages of the tempest, and restoring the church to something like her former estate. But the calm was treacherous. We have seen in our own days the work of despoiling the Roman Church resumed. One Italian province after another has been torn from the Papacy, and, last of all, we have seen the top stone put upon the political humiliations of that church in the loss of Rome, the throne of her temporal dominion, and the chief seat of her spiritual authority. And now what do we behold? A spectacle that may well fill us with amazement and awe. The political Papacy in ruins; but out of its ruins there stands up a vast spiritual colossus! Its feet more firmly planted on the earth, and its head lifted higher into the heavens than in any former age.
Let us pause and mark the great and solemn lesson taught in this to the men now living, and to the ages to come. The power of systems for good or evil lies in their hidden springs. It is eminently so with the Papacy. Its great strength lay not in the array of princes and kingdoms that stood around it, but in its inner principles. It was these, and not the swords, and faggots at its service, which enabled it to blind the understanding, to affright men with imaginary terrors; to make them call evil good and good evil, to subjugate the conscience, and sink society into political and moral serfdom. But the world did not understand this, and now God is about to give us a new experience of the Papacy. He has compelled it to come out of its political organization; to stand forth naked and disembodied before the world, clothed with tremendous spiritual sanctions and attributes which enable it to awe the conscience and dominate kingdoms as much as ever. Does not this show that it was the spiritual Papacy which all along was the world's oppressor?

OUTWARD DECAY; INWARD GROWTH.

This brings us to the second branch of our subject, namely, the growth and consolidation which has been going on within, contemporaneously with decadence in the exterior of the Papacy. The increase of its spiritual forces has kept pace with the decay and waste of its political appliances. The grand aim of the Papacy from the beginning was to be as God, and to rule all men with a divine and infallible authority. It has never lost sight of this great idea, it has never parted with the hope of realizing it, it has never turned aside from the pursuit; and with a consistency and success of which there is no other example in all history, it has gone steadily onward, century after century, through defeat this hour and triumph the next, to that great consummation. But the hope of reaching that dazzling eminence rested mainly on its spiritual, not on its earthly appliances. It knew that the fashion of the world changeth; that laws, institutions, and dynasties are mutable; that thrones may be lost by weakness or overturned by revolution, but that principles are eternal; and therefore never did it suffer check or defeat outwardly but it cast itself anew upon its fundamental and abiding principles; it refurbished and perfected those ethereal weapons, which alone could give it such a conquest as it aimed at achieving. But for this, the Papacy would have fallen long ago; it would have disappeared with the medieval kingdoms amid which it arose. But so far from this, while its companion monarchies are in the grave, the Papacy still flourishes; and here it is, engaged in a greater muster of its spiritual forces, now complete in number and perfect in strength, preparatory to a more deadly encounter with liberty and Christianity than it ever yet waged.
Let me briefly describe how this has come about, and at the same time offer a forecast of what it is likely to end in. The late pontificate—I mean that of Pius IX.—was wholly passed in recasting the dogmas of the Papacy, and in giving them their fullest possible development. Conclusions to which the Papacy had all along logically pointed, but to which no one, at least in modern times, had dared to push it, were decreed as dogmas, and marshaled in hostile array against modern society. This was the life work of Pius IX.—I mean of the doctors and Jesuits of the Curia; for, personally, the Pope himself was not equal to so great a labor. And for what end was this work undertaken? Not merely to recover the temporal sovereignty—in other words, the Papal States—a comparatively small matter; but to put the Papacy in a position to resume that far vaster temporal supremacy which the Popes of the middle ages had exercised over the whole of Christendom.

THE SYLLABUS AND INFALLIBILITY.

In order to this it was necessary, first of all, to set full before the world's eye, and fix deeply in the world's belief, the idea of a divine vicegerent—a great spiritual authority on whose shoulder God had laid the government of the world, and whom he had qualified to bear so great a burden by the superhuman qualities with which he had endowed it. Hence the two great outstanding acts of the late Pontificate; I mean, the proclamation of the Syllabus and the Infallibility. The first, the Syllabus to wit, is a store-house of the laws of the church of Rome, as they have come at last to be stamped with the impress of perfection and unchangeableness. The second, the Infallibility, is the focus into which the whole legislation of Rome has been gathered, and whence it again radiates forth over the world in a tyranny which absorbs all rights, crushes all consciences, nullifies all laws, and dominates all kings and nations. In these two documents is presented the perfect image of that superhuman vicegerent which, according to Papal teaching, God has set up upon the earth.

Freedom and Truth

“He is most free who is most completely a captive of the truth.”

Strength as Our Day.

By Methodist Recorder

THIS life to the Christian, as well as to others, is a life of trial and affliction. All men are born to trouble. It is the common inheritance of the race. There are no exceptions. The history of the world is the history of suffering and sorrow. All down the ages tears have unbidden started from weeping eyes, and sighs have risen from burdened hearts throbbing with pain. And such will no doubt continue to be the case until the effects of sin are entirely removed, and God shall make all things new.
No condition in life is exempt from trial. The blight of sin has been felt everywhere, and its touch brings sorrow. There are certain trials and afflictions which are common to all alike; it matters not what their condition in life may be. All men must endure pain, suffering, and death. Then, there are trials peculiar to our particular lot in life. Every condition and station in life has trials peculiar to itself. They may be different in kind, but not, on that account, less difficult to endure. We often imagine that if we were placed in other circumstances, if we had different surroundings, if we could engage in different pursuits, that we would be free from care. This is a vain imagination. There are no circumstances in which we could be placed; there are no pursuits in which we could engage, that would exempt us from trial. A change in our condition in life might free us from trial in one form, but it would only, perhaps, be to bring greater trial in some other form. The poor have their trials, which often appear difficult to bear, but so have the rich. Men in private life have their cares, their trials, and their difficulties, but men in official stations have far greater burdens to bear, and far greater trials to endure. A change in our circumstances or condition in life, instead of freeing us from trial, would only change its form.
While the Christian is called to endure, in a greater or less degree, all the trials and afflictions common to men, he is subject to oppositions and trials peculiar to him as a Christian, and which are unknown to others. He is continually exposed to temptation, which he must resist, and by constant effort endeavor to keep his own soul in the love of God. He is opposed by the world, whose spirit, maxims, and evil practices he must withstand and overcome; and, then he must labor for the overthrow of every form of vice, and the extension and triumph of the cause of truth and righteousness in the earth. He is in conflict with the world, the flesh, and the devil. He is engaged in a great spiritual warfare, and the trials of this conflict are added to those to which he is subject in common with all others. While looking at the Christian's condition it appears to be one of peculiar hardship and difficulty. Instead of his religion freeing him from trial, it appears only to increase the burdens he is required to bear, and to render his condition still more intolerable.
This is only apparently but not really the case. It is not the weight of the burden laid upon a man that is alone to be considered, but his strength to bear it. What would crush one man to the earth may appear light to another. It is the proportion between a man's burden and his strength that makes it appear light or heavy to him. The burden may be increased, but if strength is increased in proportion, it will not appear any heavier, or be any more difficult to bear than it was before. This is the source of the Christian's consolation. God has promised that his grace, it matters not what the trials and afflictions that he is called to endure, shall be sufficient for him; and that as his day, so shall his strength be.
It is not the trials alone that the Christian is called to endure in common with others, or those additional trials that are peculiar to himself, that are to be considered in forming a correct estimate of his true condition, but the divine strength that God imparts to enable him to bear them. This strength shall be as his day—proportioned to his trial—and shall be imparted as it is needed in life's great conflict.
This is all that the Christian can require to sustain his faith and hope. He does not know what trials, afflictions, and sorrows are before him; he does not know how rough and thorny the path he may be required to tread; he does not know how fierce the enemies that shall be permitted to assail him; but this he knows, and this is enough for him to know, that when the day of trial comes, then, as his day, so shall his strength be. He knows that in great trials he will receive great grace. He may be required to bear a giant's load, but if so, a giant's strength will be given him. God's strength shall be made known in his weakness, for God will strengthen him with might by his Spirit to do his will. The Christian need have no fears for the future. He cannot penetrate it, it is true, but he knows that God is faithful, who has promised, and that he will sustain and deliver him by his grace.—Methodist Recorder.

A Self-Conceited Age.

By Sel.

THIS is said to be a very brainy age. Perhaps it is. One thing is certain, it is a very self-conceited age. Men do not hesitate to assert their superiority to those who have preceded them, and with great self-complacency to sound their own praise. This may be a sign of braininess, but certainly it is not a sign of modesty, and with sensible people it is a poor commendation. True greatness is unpretentious, and often seems unconscious of its power. We have doubtless great men—brainy men—in this age, but they occupy themselves in using their brains and not in talking about them.
Whenever a man is lifted up with a sense of his own greatness, he betrays his weakness, and at once loses his influence. A man may know a great deal, but there is so much he does not know that he has no cause to be exalted in his own estimation. The more a man really knows, the wider the range of his mental vision, and the less he seems to himself to know. If unfounded speculation could be regarded as knowledge, then the knowledge of this age would be wonderful.

Believe the Truth.

By William A. Blakely

A RELIGIOUS paper of Chicago gives an account of a woman who "went triumphantly to her everlasting rewards with Jesus, August 1. The time had come, we think, when the Lord wanted her in the heavenly home, and so he took her." Such a perversion of the teachings of the Scriptures is deplorable. By using the words "he took her," they teach that this is the same as the event recorded in Gen. 5:24, where it is said of Enoch, "God took him;" thus they endeavor to make translation and death mean the same. But we find in Hebrews that "Enoch was translated that he should not see death," and no one who does see death is translated. Nevertheless the belief is almost universal that—
"It is not death to fling Aside this sinful dust, And rise on strong, exulting wing To live among the just." —M. E. Hymnal.
It is really the popular theory of the day, and is one of the strongest evidences that Spiritualism will take the world captive. Satan said, "Ye shall not surely die;" i. e., according to the popular belief, ye shall only apparently die; in truth, they say, "Ye shall become as gods," knowing more than the soul could know while encumbered with this "earthly prison-house"! And so widespread has this belief become that to-day this idea, sprung by Satan, is incorporated into songs of praise, into the various creeds, and into nearly every obituary that is written. Very few believe what the Bible says: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Ps. 146:3, 4. This is in harmony with the Scriptures throughout. As stated elsewhere: "The dead know not anything;" "their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished." Eccl. 9:5, 6. "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." Ps. 115:17. W. A. BLAKELY.

The Curse of Idleness.

By Christian World

HE was a wise man who prayed, "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me." And the reasons he gave are very applicable to the present day: "Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." These ancient words are pregnant with the blessings belonging to that great middle class, which we are accustomed to consider an invention of modern times. Obliged to work for their living, they are taught self-denial and self-control by the necessities of their position. They are never at a loss how to spend their day; and to men who wish there were thirty hours in the day, the notion of "killing time" is almost as shocking as homicide. Add to this the Puritan tradition, which influences the middle ranks almost exclusively, and a very good case is made out why they, rather than any other, should be considered the privileged class. Above them luxury and idleness too often relax the fiber of responsibility; below them, hardness of circumstance and insufficiency of wages, with consequent squalor, are too much for anything but a heroic temper to overcome. Give idle lordings and silly ladies daily task work, and they would have a healthier will. Double the wages of the working class all around, and the next generation would be transfigured and transformed.—Christian World.

That Lovely Name.

I REMEMBER once hearing an anecdote of an old Scotch woman, who lived in some very remote part of the Highlands. She was ill, and one of her few neighbors, with considerable trouble made her way to the nearest minister, to ask him to visit her. He did so, but after much questioning on his part, and not feeling at all satisfied with the poor woman's answers, he was about to leave disheartened, knowing that she had not long to live. At last, making one further attempt in which he used the all-prevailing name of Jesus, the dying turned to him, and in her native Scotch dialect said: "I ken not of your doctrines, I ken not of your ordinances, but, as the flower on the mountain side opens to the sunshine, so my heart opens to that lovely name."
It was enough; the chord was touched and it gave forth a true note. That dear Scotch woman, if she knew little else, knew this, "That there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved," and that through his name, "whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."
Reader, have you obtained this knowledge, and is that name to you the "Sweetest note in seraph song, Sweetest name on mortal tongue, Sweetest carol ever sung, Jesus, blessed Jesus"? —Sel.

The Sin of Profanity

THERE is no sin more dishonoring to God, and none for which there is less excuse, than profanity. It gratifies no animal appetite; it secures no temporal gain; it promotes no worldly ambition. All it can do is to foster a spirit of irreverence for God, and manifest the natural hatred of the heart for all that is sacred.
Continue reading: The Ten Kingdoms in the Dark Ages